Novel method of manufacturing an enveloped food product and apparatus therefor

ABSTRACT

A method of producing an enveloped food product comprising a sealed bread or pastry envelope and a filling contained therein is provided. An apparatus for producing an enveloped food product is also provided.

This invention relates to a method of manufacturing an enveloped foodproduct and apparatus therefor, in particular an enveloped food productthat is able to maintain its shape during manufacture.

Enveloped food products such as calzone pizzas are known in the art. Inthe manufacture of calzone pizzas, pizza dough ingredients are mixed,the pizza dough is left to prove, a circular pattern is formed from thepizza dough, a filling is placed thereon, the pattern is folded toenvelope the filling thereby to form the traditional semi-circular shapeof the calzone pizza, the edges are pinched together to provide a sealand the calzone pizza is finally cooked.

A drawback of calzone pizzas is that they are prone to losing theirsemi-circular shape. It is believed that this is due to twogas-generating effects. Firstly, where the proving step takes placeafter the folding step as is the case for commercially made, rather thanartisan or home made products, carbon dioxide is generated by yeast inthe pizza dough during the proving step. Secondly, steam is generatedfrom the filling during the cooking step. There therefore remains a needfor a method of producing enveloped food products that are able tomaintain their shape during manufacture.

FR 2907316 discloses a process form preparing a foodstuff with sealededges comprising a cereal dough containing a filling, which comprisespreparing a cereal dough, rolling out the dough, preparing a cutout fromthe dough, placing deep-frozen and measured filling on rolled out doughat the cut-out's centre, moistening the dough and covering the fillingby folding and overlapping of two opposite edges, sealing theoverlapping edges, closing the ends of the rolled-out dough andoptionally cutting across the dough, turning around and placing foldedfoodstuff with the sealed edges and optionally freezing of the product.The resulting product can be fermented and cooked.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

A solution to the aforementioned problem is provided, in a first aspectof the invention, by a method of producing an enveloped food productcomprising a sealed bread or pastry envelope and a filling containedtherein, the method comprising the steps in the following order of:

a. providing a sheet of dough, the sheet comprising an upper and a lowersurface;

b. cutting a pattern from the sheet of dough, the pattern comprising acentral section, a first flap bounded by a first edge and a second flapbounded by a second edge, wherein the first and second flaps arearranged in opposition;

c. placing at least one portion of a filling on the upper surface of thecentral section;

d. folding the first flap over at least a part of the filling leaving aremainder of the filling uncovered, and folding the second flap over theremainder of the filling, thereby to form two conjoined enveloped foodproducts;

e. when the dough does not comprise yeast, sealing the first edge of thefirst flap and second edge of the second flap to the upper surface ofthe central section;

f. when the dough comprises yeast, proving the dough in the twoconjoined enveloped food products;

g. cooking the two conjoined enveloped food products; and

h. separating the two conjoined enveloped food products by cuttingthereby to form two enveloped food products.

For the purposes of this description, dough is defined as bread orpastry dough wherein: bread dough comprises flour and water; leavenedbread dough comprises flour, water and yeast; and pastry dough comprisesflour and shortening. The flour may be wheat flour, corn flour, riceflour, rye flour and other such flours known to the person skilled inthe art.

The filling may be sweet or savoury, in a preferred embodiment thefilling is savoury, in a more preferred embodiment the filling is cheeseand in a most preferred embodiment the filling is mozzarella cheese.Optionally the filling may be applied to the upper surface of thecentral section such that a discrete area is left uncovered for thepurposes of helping the edges of the first and second flaps to seal tothe upper surface of the central section.

A particular advantage of the aforementioned method is that the shape ofthe enveloped food product is maintained during the manufacturingprocess. Without wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that theconjunction of the two enveloped food products means that the forcesexerted by the aforementioned carbon dioxide and steam in each envelopedfood product when still joined to each other act in opposition,particularly at the area of conjunction, effectively counteracting eachother and preventing deformation of the neighbouring edges.

In an alternative embodiment, the present invention provides a method ofproducing an enveloped food product wherein the central section of thepattern is of a substantially circular shape of area A and the firstflap of the pattern and the second flap of the pattern are each of asubstantially semi-circular shape each of area B wherein area B is from40% to 65% of area A, preferably from 43% to 60% of area A and morepreferably from 45% to 55% of area A. It has been observed that shapeloss is particularly pronounced in enveloped food products that aresemi-circular in shape. This method is therefore particularly apt forthe prevention of shape loss in enveloped food products such as calzonepizzas that have this shape. Without wishing to be bound by theory, itis believed that the conjunction of the two semi-circular enveloped foodproducts serves to bring the linear edge of the first flap and thelinear edge of the second flap into close proximity and the forcesexerted by the aforementioned carbon dioxide and steam in each envelopedfood product when still joined to each other act in opposition on theselinear edges therefore effectively cancelling each other out andpreventing deformation.

In a further embodiment, the present invention provides a method ofproducing an enveloped food product wherein cutting of the two conjoinedenveloped food products is accomplished using an ultrasonic knife. Aparticular advantage of using an ultrasonic knife to accomplish thecutting is that it causes the cut edges to reseal. Thus in an embodimentof the invention where a filling is applied to the upper surface of thecentral section without the need to retain an uncovered area for thepurposes of facilitating sealing of the edges of the first and secondflaps to the upper surface of the central section, use of an ultrasonicknife prevents leakage of the filling from the cut edges of theenveloped food products. Alternative cutting techniques such asguillotining and cutting rollers may be used when the cut edges do notrequire resealing.

In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method ofproducing an enveloped food product wherein a coating is optionallyapplied to an upper surface of the two conjoined enveloped foodproducts. The coating may be sweet or savoury, in a preferred embodimentthe coating is savoury and in a more preferred embodiment the coatingcomprises tomato pulp. Optionally the coating may be dispensed with.

In yet another embodiment, the present invention provides a method ofproducing an enveloped food product comprising an additional step offreezing the enveloped food product.

In a second aspect of the invention, an apparatus for producing anenveloped food product is provided, the apparatus comprising in thesequence set forth herein below:

a. a roller for producing the sheet of dough;

b. a first cutter for cutting the pattern from the sheet of dough;

c. at least one filling dispenser for placing at least one filling onthe upper surface of the central section

d. a first mechanical means for folding the first flap over at least apart of the filling leaving a remainder of the filling uncovered and asecond mechanical means for folding the second flap over the remainderof the filling, thereby to form two conjoined enveloped food products;

e. a third mechanical means for sealing the edge of the first flap andthe edge of the second flap to the upper surface of the central sectionwhen the dough does not comprise yeast;

f. a proving oven for proving the dough in the two conjoined envelopedfood products when the dough comprises yeast;

g. optionally a coating dispenser for applying a coating to the uppersurface of the two conjoined food products;

h. a baking oven for cooking the two conjoined enveloped food products;and

i. a second cutter for separating the two conjoined enveloped foodproducts thereby to form two enveloped food products.

The first mechanical means and second mechanical means for folding thefirst and second flaps may comprise folding fingers. The thirdmechanical means for sealing the edges of the first and second flaps tothe upper surface of the central section may comprise a shaped flange.

In an alternative embodiment, the aforementioned apparatus comprises asecond cutter which is an ultrasonic knife.

In a further embodiment the aforementioned apparatus comprises a freezerfor freezing the enveloped food product.

In a third aspect of the invention, an enveloped food product isprovided that is obtained or obtainable by the abovementioned methods.

In a forth aspect of the invention, an enveloped food product comprisinga sealed bread or pastry envelope and a filling contained therein isprovided that is able to maintain its shape during manufacture.

According to the invention, such a food product preferably is a foodproduct comprising two conjoined parts arranged in opposition, each partcomprising an envelope of bread or pasty dough containing a filling.This preferred type of product has not been cut yet in two separateenveloped products, but the enveloped parts are connected to each otheras a result of the folding of the first and the second flap of doughover the two respective fillings and sealing the flaps to the uppersurface of the central section on a discrete area that is left uncoveredwith filling. During the cooking step, this food product maintains itsshape. Preferably, the product is prepared from one piece of dough andfolded in the way as has been described above.

The invention further relates to a food product according to theinvention, wherein the food product has been cooked. Preferably, cookingis conducted in an oven, as known to a person in the art.

As described above, the invention may preferably relate to a multiplefood product comprising two or more of the food products describedabove, wherein the food products are serially connected to each other.As illustrated in FIG. 5, to this end the dough may be cut in such a waythat a plurality of patterns is connected. This facilitates industrialproduction of the product of the present invention. The person skilledin the art will understand how many patterns can be practicallyconnected to each other. It might range from 2 to 20, preferably from 4to 10, more preferably from 6 to 8.

In a preferred arrangement, the food product according to the inventioncomprises a pizza, preferably, a pizza of the type that has been foldedin two. In case the food product is a non-separated product comprisingtwo conjoined parts, it is intended that each part represents a pizza,and that two pizzas are conjoined. In case the food product represents amultiple food product, a series consisting of units of two conjoinedpizzas is meant.

SUMMARY OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is exemplified hereinbelow with reference to the figureswherein:

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a rectangular pattern cut from a sheet ofdough in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the rectangular pattern of FIG. 1 with atleast one portion of a filling in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the rectangular pattern of FIG. 2 ina partially folded state in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a plan view of an alternative pattern cut from a sheet ofdough in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a plurality of patterns in accordance with FIG. 4 in aconjoined state cut from a single sheet of dough in accordance with theinvention.

FIG. 6 shows an apparatus in accordance with the invention for producingan enveloped food product.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Example 1

A calzone pizza was prepared by combining wheat flour (50 g), sugar (2.5g), water (41 g), malt extract (0.5 g), salt (0.5 g), yeast (0.5 g) andmargarine (5 g) using techniques known to the person skilled in the artthereby to form a bread dough. The dough was then rolled thereby toproduce a sheet of dough. The sheet of dough was cut to provide apattern as illustrated in FIG. 1, comprising a central section 101, afirst flap 102 and a second flap 103, wherein the first and second flapsare arranged in opposition.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, a filling 201 of mozzarella cheese was placedon the upper surface of the central section 101. A central area 202 ofthe central section 101 was kept free of filling to facilitate thesealing of the first edge of the first flap and second edge of thesecond flap to the upper surface of the central section.

The first flap 102 was then folded over a part of the filling 201leaving a remainder of the filling uncovered, and the second flap 103was then folded over the remainder of the filling 201, thereby to formtwo conjoined enveloped food products. The pattern of FIG. 2 is shown ina partially folded state in FIG. 3.

The dough was proven in a proving oven for 30 minutes at a relativehumidity of 85% and a temperature of 40° C. to leaven the dough and toallow the edges of the first flap 102 and second flap 103 to seal to theupper surface of the central section 101.

A coating comprising extra virgin olive oil (6 g), onion (4 g), garlic(2 g), tomato pulp (80 g), granda padano cheese (7 g), and salt (1 g)was prepared using techniques known to the person skilled in the art andthen applied to the upper surface of the two conjoined enveloped foodproducts thereby to form two coated conjoined enveloped food products.

The two coated conjoined enveloped food products were then cooked in abaking oven for a period of 110 seconds at a temperature of 300° C. withan airspeed of 25 metres per second.

Thereafter the two coated conjoined enveloped food products were removedfrom the baking oven and separated wherein the cutting was accomplishedusing an ultrasonic knife to cut along the line I to I thereby to formtwo enveloped food products.

Example 2

Unleavened bread dough was prepared by combining wheat flour (50 g),water (41 g), and salt (0.5 g) using techniques known to the personskilled in the art. An enveloped food product was produced in accordancewith the method set forth in example 1 except that unleavened breaddough was used and the proving step was omitted and replaced by asealing step whereby the edges of the first flap 102 and second flap 103were sealed to the upper surface of the central section 101 by theapplication of pressure using a shaped flange.

Example 3

As illustrated in FIG. 4, an alternative pattern was cut from a sheet ofdough that provided for a traditional semi-circular shaped envelopedfood product wherein the central section 401 was of a substantiallycircular shape of area A and the first flap 402 and the second flap 403were each of a substantially semi-circular shape each of area B, whereinA≈2B.

Example 4

As illustrated in FIG. 5 a plurality of conjoined patterns according toexample 3 were provided from a single sheet of dough for the continuousproduction of the enveloped food product wherein the plurality ofpatterns were cut from the single sheet of dough and the patterns werethemselves separated by cutting along lines v to v, w to w, x to x, y toy and z to z.

Example 5

Calzone pizza can be produced using an apparatus as illustrated in FIG.6 comprising: an endless belt conveyer 601, a dough mixer 602, a roller603, a first cutter 604 for providing a plurality of conjoined patternsaccording to example 5, a second cutter 613 to separate said conjoinedpatterns, one or more filling dispensers 605, a first mechanical means6061 for folding the first flap, a second mechanical means 6062 forfolding the second flap, a third mechanical means 607 for sealing theedges of the first and second flaps to the upper surface of the centralsection when the dough does not comprise yeast, a proving oven 608 forproving the dough when the dough comprises yeast, a coating dispenser609, a baking oven 610 for cooking the two conjoined enveloped foodproducts, a third cutter 611 for separating the two conjoined envelopedfood products thereby to form two enveloped food products, and a freezer612 for storing the enveloped food products.

In use, pizza dough ingredients comprising wheat flour (500 g), sugar(25 g), water (410 g), malt extract (5 g), salt (5 g), yeast (5 g) andmargarine (50 g) were added to the dough mixer 602 thereby to form doughwhich was extruded from the dough mixer 602 onto the endless beltconveyer 601 thereby to convey the dough towards the roller 603. Thedough was rolled by the roller 603 thereby to form a sheet of dough thatwas first cut with the first cutter 604 thereby to provide a pluralityof conjoined patterns according to example 4 and then conveyed to thesecond cutter 613 thereby to separate said conjoined patterns. Thepatterns were conveyed to the filling dispenser 605 which dispensed afilling of mozzarella cheese onto the central section of the pattern.The first flap was then folded by the first mechanical means 6061comprising folding fingers that folded the first flap over a part of thefilling leaving a remainder of the filling uncovered. The second flapwas then folded by the second mechanical means 6062 comprising foldingfingers that folded the second flap over the remainder of the filling,thereby to form two conjoined enveloped food products. The two conjoinedenveloped food products were conveyed to the proving oven 608 forproving at a relative humidity of 85% and a temperature of 40° C. for atime of 30 minutes. A coating comprising extra virgin olive oil (6 g),onion (4 g), garlic (2 g), tomato pulp (80 g), granda padano cheese (7g), and salt (1 g) was added to an upper surface of the two conjoinedenveloped food products from the coating dispenser 609 and the twocoated conjoined enveloped food products were conveyed to the bakingoven 610 and cooked for a period of 110 seconds at a temperature of 300°C. with an airspeed of 25 metres per second. The two conjoined envelopedfood products were then conveyed from the baking oven 610 and separatedusing the ultrasonic knife 611 thereby to form two enveloped foodproducts. The enveloped food products were allowed to cool at roomtemperature and conveyed to a freezer 612 for storage.

Example 6

The abovementioned apparatus was used to produce an enveloped foodproduct comprising unleavened bread dough comprising wheat flour (500g), water (410 g), and salt (5 g). In this embodiment the proving oven608 was bypassed and a third mechanical means 607 was used to seal theedges of the first and second flaps to the upper surface of the centralsection. This third mechanical means 607 was a shaped flange thatapplied pressure to the edges of the first and second flaps to forcethem into contact with the upper surface of the central section therebyto seal the edges.

1. A method of producing an enveloped food product comprising a sealedbread or pastry envelope and a filling contained therein, the methodcomprising the steps in the following order of: a. providing a sheet ofdough, the sheet comprising an upper and a lower surface; b. cutting apattern from the sheet of dough, the pattern comprising a centralsection, a first flap bounded by a first edge and a second flap boundedby a second edge, wherein the first and second flaps are arranged inopposition; c. placing at least one portion of a filling on the uppersurface of the central section; d. folding the first flap over at leasta part of the filling leaving a remainder of the filling uncovered, andfolding the second flap over the remainder of the filling, thereby toform two conjoined enveloped food products; e. when the dough does notcomprise yeast, sealing the first edge of the first flap and the secondedge of the second flap to the upper surface of the central section; f.when the dough comprises yeast, proving the dough in the two conjoinedenveloped food products; g. cooking the two conjoined enveloped foodproducts; and h. separating the two conjoined enveloped food products bycutting thereby to form two enveloped food products, wherein the cuttingis performed using an ultrasonic knife.
 2. A method of producing anenveloped food product comprising a sealed bread or pastry envelope anda filling contained therein, the method comprising the steps in thefollowing order of: a. providing a sheet of dough, the sheet comprisingan upper and a lower surface; b. cutting a pattern from the sheet ofdough, the pattern comprising a central section, a first flap bounded bya first edge and a second flap bounded by a second edge, wherein thefirst and second flaps are arranged in opposition; c. placing at leastone portion of a filling on the upper surface of the central section,wherein a discrete area is left uncovered to help the edges of the firstand second flaps to seal to the upper surface of the central section; d.folding the first flap over at least a part of the filling leaving aremainder of the filling uncovered, and folding the second flap over theremainder of the filling, thereby to form two conjoined enveloped foodproducts; e. when the dough does not comprise yeast, sealing the firstedge of the first flap and the second edge of the second flap to theupper surface of the central section; f. when the dough comprises yeast,proving the dough in the two conjoined enveloped food products; g.cooking the two conjoined enveloped food products; and h. separating thetwo conjoined enveloped food products by cutting thereby to form twoenveloped food products.
 3. A method of producing an enveloped foodproduct according to claim 1 wherein the central section is of asubstantially circular shape of area A and the first flap and secondflap are each of a substantially semi-circular shape each of area B,wherein area B is from 40% to 65% of area A.
 4. A method of producing anenveloped food product according to claim 1 wherein a coating isoptionally applied to an upper surface of the two conjoined envelopedfood products.
 5. A method of producing an enveloped food productaccording to claim 1 comprising an additional step of freezing theenveloped food product.
 6. An apparatus for producing an enveloped foodproduct prepared according to claim 1, the apparatus comprising in thesequence set forth herein below: a. a roller for producing the sheet ofdough; b. a first cutter for cutting the pattern from the sheet ofdough; c. at least one filling dispenser for placing at least onefilling on the upper surface of the central section d. a firstmechanical means for folding the first flap over at least a part of thefilling leaving a remainder of the filling uncovered and a secondmechanical means for folding the second flap over the remainder of thefilling, thereby to form two conjoined enveloped food products; e. athird mechanical means for sealing the edge of the first flap and theedge of the second flap to the upper surface of the central section whenthe dough does not comprise yeast; f. a proving oven for proving thedough in the two conjoined enveloped food products when the doughcomprises yeast; g. optionally a coating dispenser for applying acoating to the upper surface of the two conjoined food products; h. abaking oven for cooking the two conjoined enveloped food products; andi. a second cutter for separating the two conjoined enveloped foodproducts thereby to form two enveloped food products.
 7. An apparatusaccording to claim 6 wherein the second cutter is an ultrasonic knife.8. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the apparatus furthercomprises a freezer for freezing the enveloped food product.
 9. Anenveloped food product obtainable by the method of claim
 1. 10. Foodproduct comprising two conjoined parts arranged in opposition, each partcomprising an envelope of bread or pasty dough containing a filling. 11.Food product according to claim 10, wherein the food product has beencooked.
 12. Multiple food product comprising two or more of the foodproducts according to claim 10, the food products according to claim 10being serially connected to each other.
 13. Food product according toclaim 1, wherein the food product comprises a pizza.